SAN ANTONIO – A woman who was shot in the head during a bar fight two years described the man on trial for shooting her as "angry," "zoned-out" and "mean."
Debbie Arredondo, 44, testified on Wednesday before the jury in the trial of Cody Waters, the accused shooter.
Arredondo said she and another couple were celebrating her husband's birthday on Jan. 24, 2014, the night of the shooting. As they left the bar, she said they were confronted by Waters in the parking lot.
Arredondo said she shouted to Waters to slow down as he began to drive away, to which he replied, “You’re (expletive) with the wrong guy.”
She said her husband and Waters began fighting, and she saw a gun on the ground.
“My reaction was, when I saw the gun, was to go and get my husband out of the way, to get him off," Arredondo said. "And that’s all I remember.”
She said that the next thing she remembered was overhearing the ambulance driver talking on his radio as she was rushed to the hospital.
“I remember him saying, ‘Coming in with a gunshot wound to the head,'” she said.
John Smithwick, who along with his wife was celebrating Jaime Arredondo’s birthday, testified that he heard a gunshot as they left the bar.
“Within seconds, I heard a gunshot and when I heard the gunshot I looked over and I see Debbie go head first to the ground,” he testified.
According to police reports, Waters waited for officers to arrive and surrendered without a struggle.
If he is convicted of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, he faces a punishment range of from 2 to 20 years in prison. But he is eligible for probation.
Testimony is expected to continue on Thursday before visiting Judge Raymond Angelini in the 437th District Court.